Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kage, Baragoroshihen
by FernyX3
Summary: When Mion begins acting very strangely, and Rena and Keiichi begin to grow closer, Rika fears for the worst. Besides that, all the wrong choices are taking place to throw everyone into insanity… Rating may go up later!
1. Prologue

**Note: Okay, so here's my first fan fiction, and I must say that it is the very definition of melodramatic. Seriously. Anyways, please read and review! The overall story has a lot of fighting, blood, and romance-type stuff, so this is NOT for kids. This is a multi-chapter story, by the way.**

**About the prologue: I know it doesn't make sense, but it will. You can probably figure out who some of the people are, and I hope that doesn't mess up the rest of the story. The first part is a vague description that could be from any random observer's POV. Then, it switches to Rika's POV. And remember:-Words in "quotation marks" is normal speech, as always.**

**-A word or two that is **_**italicized **_**is being spoken in emphasis, as long as it's in speech. If it's not in speech, it's a character's thoughts. If a whole paragraph is written like that, then it is usually a memory.**

**-Words that are **_**italicized **_**and are in "quotation marks" so that it looks like **_**"this" **_**is Spirit Hanyuu talking to Rika. I'm making it look like this because Rika is the only one who can hear her talk. And that's only Spirit Hanyuu, by the way. Those rules don't apply for Hanyuu while she's alive.**

**-Words in bold (which is what this whole section in in) are Rika's speech in her normal, deep voice (her childish voice is just an act) and Rika's speaking as Frederica Bernkastel. **

**Okay, since I'm done ranting, let's get on with the fan fiction!**

**-Insert disclaimer here-**

* * *

**"Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kage, Baragoroshi-hen"**

**By Ferny (Blaze-Fire-Kitty)**

**Prologue**

They were aware of only three things at that moment.

One: Their wounds bled profusely, and with each drop that splattered onto the ground, they could almost see the trust between them shattering. They felt as though the remaining shards were then slicing them wide open.

Two: They were crying tears that held everything that was shared with their loved one-the one they were dueling over… Maybe a tear or two carried the memories of their sacred friendship.

Three: Pain seared through their entire bodies, lighting their fingertips with little flames of agony. Waves of sorrow crashed over their heads until they felt like they were drowning. Their legs trembled as though they would give away to the misery that gnawed away at them.

Everything else in the world was gone; unimportant. Everything else was dead to them. They weren't even aware of the gathering crowd around them. Those people didn't matter. Nothing mattered more to each one than taking the life of the other. Taking revenge on the one who had stolen their joy, life, innocence.

However, each one wondered vaguely if that were possible. They even considered the possibility of this fight bringing nothing but more tragedy. They each wondered what would happen if they themselves were to die.

No. They couldn't just leave their prize for the other one to claim. No matter what.

The clang of metal snapped them back to their senses as their weapons collided with one another. They weren't even aware that they were swinging them. They weren't really aware of anything anymore.

The screech of steel made one cringe, and the other one took the opportunity to bring her cleaver down upon the first one's shoulder…

Gasps rose from around them as the crowd ducked out of the way of the splash of blood.

_-----_

_It was like watching a dance._

_A dance of pain. A dance of death. A dance of envy._

_A dance of broken hearts, torn love, and shattered friendships. A dance with beautifully preformed choreography, as rhythm flowed in the way they clashed and collided._

Rika Furude heard the words echoing through her mind as she realized with dread that somehow, through some cruel twist of fate, Hinamizawa had fallen into the time loop once again. She felt tears welling up in her violet eyes, but she dare not let one escape. This was a time to be strong; a time to stand up and face fate once and for all.

She felt a gentle hand on her shoulder. _"I'm sorry, Rika. I'm so sorry."_

"It's okay, Hanyu," she replied to the spirit. "This was bound to happen. I wonder when I'll learn that mere humans can't change fate?"

Hanyu sighed, then Rika felt her presence fade, leaving behind a lonely, empty feeling. _Nothing can be done, _she reasoned with herself; _fate has decided. _Rika was furious; after hundreds of years, hundreds of time loops where she watched her friends and then herself die, she still couldn't find a way to escape this curse.

Once again, metal met metal, blue eyes met green, and the sickening scent of blood rose from where it splashed onto the ground.

Rika let one single tear run down her right cheek, only for Hanyu to reappear and catch it with her fingertip. _I can't believe this is happening again. And it's all because of what used to be their simple little crushes…_

_Love truly is a battle that is to be fought to the death._

* * *

_To the one of self-denial, pain was nothing more than a symbol of strength. She did not know the disaster that she would bring forth._

_But to the one of self-indulgence, pain was a punishment for stupid mistakes that couldn't be fixed. She did not know that she was delivering her own punishment._

_And to both of them, pain was the illness and the cure, the birth and the death, the morning and the night, the blood and the kiss. They did not know that they were not falling victim to time's curse, but to their own tragic sins._

_-Frederica Bernkastel_


	2. Chapter One

…**So has anyone noticed that I changed it AGAIN? I'll try not to do it again… I changed the summary and took out that unnecessary summary at the beginning; then I took the Frederica poem from that and stuck it at the end of the prologue. And I changed some of the speech rules for this fic; I did think that when Rika was talking to Spirit Hanyuu, no one else could hear her, but after finally starting to watch Kai and seeing that Satoko thinks Rika is talking to herself, I FINALLY figured out that everyone else can hear Rika then. (I feel so stupid… XD) **

**And it appears that Satoko, in the anime, adds "~wa" to the end of all her sentences. I was going to throw that in here, but I decided not to make this fic more Japan-ified than it already was. **

**Okay, so now that I'm done messing with this fic, let's get on with the first chapter… AGAIN.**

**-Apply standard disclaimer here-**

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**"Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kage, Baragoroshi-hen"**

**By Blaze-Fire-Kitty (Ferny)**

**Chapter One**

**-Keiichi's POV-**

My dreams faded away slowly as the higurashi cicadas cried, and I could feel the warm sunlight beaming on me through the big window in my bedroom. Those cicadas were loud, but their song was rhythmic and quite relaxing… I felt like I could've lied there on my futon forever, in the blissful state of half-sleep, but then realization hit me like a brick.

…_It's Monday. _

I sighed quietly.

_School. Great, _I thought bitterly. _Mom and Dad are still out of town, so I could just skip… But I'll never hear the end of it from Mion. Or Satoko._

I kept lying there, letting the minutes pass as I struggled to stay somewhat awake, my eyes still closed. _I know they're waiting for me, but I guess they'll just go on to school without me if I want to show up a little late today…_

I felt something warm on my forehead, like a little puff of wind.

"Wha-!?" My eyes flew open as I bolted upright, and my forehead collided with something that cried "ow!" I sat there for a few seconds, rubbing my throbbing head with one hand, the other instinctively gripping the baseball bat beside me.

"Keiichi-kun, that hurt!"

_What in the heck? _I knew that voice well, but…

"R-Rena!?" I turned my head to see the brownish-orange-haired girl sitting at the head of my futon, holding one hand to her forehead. I could see tears on her eyes. "Why'd you do that, Keiichi-kun? Why?"

I gawked at her and released my grip on the baseball bat. "Why? Well.. What the heck are you doing in my room?"

She glared at me for a moment longer, before explaining, "Well, I waited for you at our usual meeting place, but after fifteen minutes, you never came. So Mii-chan came looking for us, and we were worried about you, so we came to find you."

I kinda got what she was saying, but I still thought it was kinda weird for them to come looking for me like that. "Okay, I get that, but what were you doing in my room?"

"You're cute when you're asleep!" Rena smiled, and my anger slowly began to melt away. That amazing smile of hers could really work wonders. I playfully ruffled her hair. "Okay, I'm coming. Just give me a few minutes to get ready, okay?"

"Okay!" With that, Rena stood up and was beginning to make her way to the door when I jokingly asked, "You didn't hide any bombs in here, did you?"

"Nope, but maybe Mii-chan did!" She walked out, closing the door behind her. And with a still-throbbing forehead, I began to search for my school uniform.

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"Okay, let's go," I called as I walked into the living room, where Rena was sitting on the couch.

"Mii-chan, let's go!" she called as she picked up her books. _Where _is _Mion? _I wondered as she spoke. _Hiding the bodies, maybe?_

"Hol onf, guyfs!" came a muffled reply from the kitchen. _Oh, great. What the heck is she doing?_

"What...?" Rena murmured as she walked into the kitchen, with me close behind her. Both of us were wearing puzzled expressions.

I was surprised by the sight of Mion standing in front of the fridge, holding a box with leftovers from the day before, almost swallowing them whole.

Rena and I exchanged awkward expressions, as we stood there for a minute or two. Mion didn't notice us until I coughed. "Um…"

She looked at Rena, and then me, before putting the lid onto the box of food and placing it back in the fridge. "Um… I can explain…?"

"I'm sure you can," I said, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Eh…sorry, Kei-chan, but I couldn't eat breakfast at my house. I kinda overslept."

"So you come into my house and just start eating my food?"

"Yep!"

"So I guess you wouldn't care if I just starved to death, huh? You know, my parents aren't here and I really can't cook that well, so you may have just sentenced me to death, Mion."

"Don't worry, Keiichi-kun, Rena would make you something to eat!" Rena chimed. Then, glancing at the clock on the wall, she added, "we'll be late if we don't leave now!"

"Oh, that's right!" Mion grabbed her books from the table, then rushed out of the kitchen. "Come on, Rena! Kei-chan!"

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"Late!"

I was greeted first thing at school by that familiar young voice. "Ugh... Good morning, Satoko." I mumbled.

"A nice 'good morning' isn't going to change anything, Keiichi-san! You're late, and that's that!" Satoko nagged, wearing a little smirk on her face.

I glanced at my watch. "...By only two minutes."

"So? It's still late," she pouted, crossing her arms. I noticed that she let Mion and Rena walk right by without getting a 'late!' from her.

"What does it matter? I mean, since when do you care anything about school?"

"O-ho-ho-ho!" Satoko gave that infamous laugh of hers. "But did you forget that today's when The Master will once again battle with the mere Apprentice, and defeat her once and for all?"

Okay, she lost me there. "...Wha...?"

"I think Satoko's referring to the game we're playing in club today, nano desu." A small, gentle voice sounded behind me. "She's having a rematch against Mii-chan in Old Geezer today, desu." That was Rika-chan, smiling as she walked over to stand beside me.

"Awesome!" I said. "So I'll get to see Satoko lose again?"

"Keiichi-saaaaaaan!" Satoko cried, tears welling up in her deep amber eyes. "I've never lost once in my life, and you know that!"

I smirked. "Oh, I see. You've never lost; it's just that everyone else in the club has all won at some point."

She can usually take a joke, but that one seemed to hit her too hard. "Why are you so mean, Keiichi-san?" Satoko whimpered as a tear ran down her cheek. "Nii-nii! Keiichi-san's being mean to me!"

_No, Satoko! Don't-_

"Satoko!" I was practically shoved out of the way as Satoshi ran over to his little sister, petting her head and asking, "What'd he do to you? Are you okay? You're not hurt, are you?"

"Aw, come on! I didn't even do anything," I argued. Satoshi sent me a glare that said he didn't believe me.

I sighed. "Whatever!" As I turned and stalked off toward my desk, I tripped over someone's foot and fell to the floor, face first. _Well, isn't this a great morning?_

"Kei-chan! Are you okay?"

I immediately jumped up, feeling a sharp pain in my right shoulder as I did. "Mion? What the heck di-Oh, Shion!?" While she sounded like Mion, it was Shion standing there with a clearly worried and apologetic look in her emerald eyes.

"I'm so sorry, Kei-chan! You okay?"

"Yeah," I said, wincing at another sharp pain in my shoulder. Shion caught that instantly. She reached a hand out towards my injured shoulder, but I shrugged it away. "Just leave me alone," I mumbled.

As I finally reached my desk, Chie-sensei was just walking into the classroom. I felt a small finger tap my shoulder. "I know Satoshi got you all mad, but please don't take it out on Shion, desu."

I didn't turn to look at her, but I knew it was Hanyu speaking to me. While I could've ranted about how Satoko always uses her older brother against me, but I knew better than to argue with the young girl who was actually the Oyashiro-sama, a great spirit who was feared by the whole of Hinamizawa.

I just sighed as Mion took her seat next to me. I must've looked pretty sad, because she asked me in an unusually serious tone, "What's wrong, Kei-chan?"

"Nothing." My voice was cold, but that didn't affect Mion, unlike it would with her twin sister Shion. She just slowly moved her hand to lay it on top of mine, both of which were under the desks. It surprised me a little, coming from a tomboy like Mion, and it was only a small gesture, but sweet nonetheless; it lightened my mood a little bit. That was why Mion Sonozaki was my best friend ever-she could be a rough tomboy who wasn't afraid to hold back on anything and who would take on any challenge in the world, or she could be a kind, caring, considerate girl who would worry about my well-being forever. I was very thankful for that.

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"I win!" Satoko cheered, a smile stretching wide across her face.

…_Why do we even try? _I thought for sure that Mion would be able to win that game of Old Geezer. But somehow, Satoko managed to have all the right cards, and Mion else had all the wrong cards. Maybe she cheated.

But she had such a pure and innocent smile on her face. There was no look of deceiving; just the expression of pure joy and excitement. She was honestly surprised and happy that she won. _Nah, she was just lucky, I guess. _

I still found it hard to believe that she beat Mion in their re-match… and that she then went on to challenge Rena, Shion, Satoshi, Rika-chan, Hanyu, and I.

And she won _every _game.

Therefore, adhering to the rules of Mion's after-school club, all us losers were to receive a punishment game.

_...Should I be scared now? _I'd never received a punishment game from cruel, heartless Satoko… Even when sweet, innocent Rika-chan gave me punishment games, they could be quite embarrassing and painful.

Satoko stood up in her chair and addressed the other club members. "Okay, unworthy low opponents! Listen up! It's time for your assignments!"

She pointed to Mion first. "Mion-san! Since you put up quite the humorously good fight, your punishment will not be severe, lucky apprentice! Tomorrow, you will carry my bag and books home." _Oh, of course. Mion gets the easiest punishment. _Mion only smirked, then she shot a glance at me: that's when I knew that Satoko was saving the worst punishment for last.

"Rena-san! You have to wear the maid outfit for the rest of the day, until you go to bed tonight." _That's not fair! Rena loves that outfit, and Satoko knows that! _Rena's eyes began to sparkle as she entered her 'take-it-home' mode. Within moments, she was already up and digging through Mion's locker, looking for the maid dress.

"Rika! Hanyu! You're off the hook today. So are my nii-nii and nee-nee!"

"Hey, that's not fair!" I suddenly shouted, jumping out of my chair. "Why shouldn't they get punished? They lost just like everyone else did!"

"O-ho-ho-ho!" Satoko laughed. "Because they're always nice to me. And besides, I can't punish Rika. I wouldn't want her to torture me again."

_Torture? _I didn't even ask. I was pretty sure I didn't want to know, anyways.

She continued with a menacing tone, "But you, Keiichi-san…"

_Maybe I could run for it... But what if she's got a trap set up at the door?_

"You have to wear the cat ears, bell, and tail for the rest of the day, and carry Mion-san's books home! For the rest of the week!"

_...Why me?_

"But Mion always has the most amount of stuff to carry! What if I break an arm or something?" I don't even know why I said that; my arguments never seem to reach anyone.

Mion laughed. "Oh, come on, Kei-chan! It'll be fun!"

"Then what's your definition of fun?"

She smiled gently, which was quite unusual for her. "Watching you be miserable!" she cheered, giving me a smile that was quite comparable to Rena's. Until then, I didn't even know that was possible.

After Mion dismissed the club, Shion called her away from the rest of the group. Mion wore a curious expression through most of their talk, but Shion looked quite worried. I wasn't able to catch what they were saying from across the room, where I was packing up my stuff, but Shion must've said something that made Mion mad, because she suddenly yelled at her to shut up. Then, she stormed past me, grabbed her bag, and headed out the door.

"Mion! Wait up!" I called. Shion caught me by the arm as I started to run after her. She handed Mion's bag to me, and she was holding Mion's books. "Let's leave her alone for a bit," she whispered.

I nodded. Seeing that Satoko had already left, I quickly ran to the bathroom to change out of the cat outfit that she'd practically forced me in to. Shion was later waiting for me right outside the school's front door, and I offered to carry Mion's books, but she wouldn't let me. "I need to do something nice for onee to make up for angering her," she explained. I knew that carrying her books wouldn't make things okay, though; whatever Shion had said to her, it sure made her mad. _Really _mad.

"I see… so what did you say to her, anyway?" I asked casually, hoping that she'd tell me. Knowing Shion, though, she'd probably just gaze at me and say, "sorry, can't tell you."

"Well…" She hesitated, letting me know that it was something serious. I wondered if I should've just stayed out of it, but there was a pleading in Shion's emerald eyes that made me feel so bad for her. So I asked her to continue.

She hung her head low. "I think onee's been doing something…bad.""Bad?" I echoed. "As in?"She opened her mouth to reply, but Mion called my name. Shion didn't follow me as I ran to catch up with her older sister, who had been walking about thirty feet in front of us. She was silent as I approached her, and for a moment, all I could hear were the cries of the higurashi and the scuffle of our shoes in the dust.

It felt like hours could've passed in that silence as we walked down the long dirt road to Mion's and Shion's house. Mion didn't even look at me. I wanted to ask her what she wanted, but the eeriness of the tense, quiet sunset held my words back.

As I looked up, gazing at the red-tinged sky, I suddenly felt a hand gently winding its fingers around mine. I already knew it was either Mion or Shion, but I flinched, and the hand pulled away. "Sorry," came Mion's quiet voice.

"Was that you, Mion?" I asked. It was so unusual for her to do something like that…

"Kei-chan?" Mion suddenly asked, glancing at me shyly.

"Mmhm?"She slowly moved her hand back to mine. "Do you care about me?"

I stopped, and I felt Shion run into me. _Was she listening to all that? _Mion stopped, but she didn't look back at me. The three of us stood there for a moment, feeling the tension thicken until I almost couldn't breathe, before Shion went around me and called, "I'll just go on home, onee, Kei-chan! See you later!"

I really didn't want Shion to go. That would only leave me and Mion in a more awkward situation, but she was out of sight in just a few seconds.

"Do you care about me? Honestly?" Mion asked again. She squeezed my hand a little. _Why is she asking me that? It's so weird for her._

I didn't have to think about it for long. Sure, she was annoying and she often caused trouble for me, but that was what made her seem so fun and energetic. It was what gave her authority over the club; it gave her a whole aura of power. But she was definitely my best friend, too, because if I ever had a problem, she would help me. Or if there was something I couldn't tell anyone else, not even my parents, she would always be there to listen. And she understood me. She cared about me, so…

I lifted my free hand to her chin and gently turned her face towards me. Her eyes were wide with an unexplainable fear, but there was the slightest blush on her beautiful face. "Mion… Of course I care about you. You're my very best friend in the whole world."Another pretty smile began to spread across her face. "Then let me ask you something else, Kei-chan," she whispered. "How much do you care about me?"

I let go of her hand and placed my hand on her waist; she blushed deep red, just another unusual trait for her. She was acting more like Shion right then. I briefly wondered if it actually was Shion, and that Mion was playing some kind of prank on me.

_No._ There was still the tomboyish glow deep in her eyes, behind the sadness that lied there. And right then, without really thinking about it, I put my other arm around her waist and pulled her into a tight hug. I felt her tense, but she slowly relaxed as her arms found their way around my neck. Her breath was warm against my neck as I felt her lips brush against the skin there. I flinched and silently cursed myself for it-Mion pulled away slightly, but I didn't move my hands away from her slender waist.

There was an unreadable emotion on her face, but I got the feeling that it wasn't too bad. I assumed that she was probably a little scared, but really, so was I.

"I-I'm sorry, Kei-chan," Mion stammered, "I d-didn't mean to… um… do that…"

I just smiled at her, catching the tear that ran down from her left eye with a finger. "It's okay. Really."

"Promise?""Promise."

We set off again on our way to her house, and neither one of us said anything else on the way back. We held hands until just before reaching the Sonozaki house. Shion was nowhere to be found.

"Come on," Mion said in her quieter tone again as she walked inside the house, I followed behind her nervously. I mean, was it okay for me to be here? This family's kinda like royalty-they might not want some commoner like me here.

Mion stopped just inside the front door. "I gotta go tell my grandma that I'm back, so could you just take that stuff up to my room?" She was gone into another room before I could ask where her room was, and Shion wasn't around to ask. So, I set off on my own to find it.

...I gotta tell you, it's hard finding just one room in that house. It's huge! But when I did find Mion's room, the first thing I noticed when I walked in was the doll sitting on her bed.

It was the same doll I'd given to her long ago, and it wasn't even in this world.

...I wondered how she still had it if time had looped several times since I gave it to her. But my thinking was interrupted as I noticed how messy her room was. I couldn't even see the floor. Either that or the floor itself was made of clothes, manga, and papers that seemed to be old worksheets from school.

"Kei-chan!" a voice sounded behind me. "And may I ask what you're doing in onee-chan's room?"

"Shion?" When I turned around, sure enough, Shion was standing in the doorway, already changed out of her school uniform. There was a mischievous smirk on her face, and she narrowed her eyes at me.

"Oh, I didn't realize you two were so serious!" She chimed.

It took me a minute to get the meaning behind that. But when I did, I instantly flew into a rage. "What? No! It's not like that!"

She laughed, "then what are you doing in Mion's room, eh? If you're so serious with her, then I suggest you not do anything in here; Grandma will probably come walking right in on your make-out session!"

"Shut up, Shion! I don't like her like that!"

That smirk she was wearing suddenly fell. "Oh really?"

"Really. I was just carrying her books up here, like she said!" I could tell that she didn't believe me. Maybe I really was in here for other reasons? _No, she's just messing with my head!_

For a few heartbeats, I thought I'd made her mad. Her eyes were empty for a few moments, but she killed the dramatic air with another one of her, well… "Shion-ish" remarks.

"But how do you know that's the real reason she wanted you in her room? Bringing her books up here may have just been her way to get you into her hands!"

"SHION!!!"

She laughed. "Sorry Kei-chan, but you know how that story goes..."

I sighed. I'm sure she was remembering a past world. "That was a long time ago, Shion, and even then, you were the one pretending to be Mion! You were the one who liked me!"

"Oh, you know better than that! You know I love Satoshi-kun! I was just pretending to like you so I could make Mion jealous!"

"And _why_ would you want to make your sister jealous?"

She shrugged. "I just like picking on her for stealing the title of older sister. I mean, don't forget that I'm the real Mion!"

I heard footsteps approaching down the hall, followed by a "thanks for carrying my stuff, Kei-chan!" Mion appeared in the doorway, and I noticed that her tone was a lot lighter-much more like the Mion I knew and lo-no, not loved!

…Liked. Yeah, likes.

I dropped Mion's bag on her bed and she announced, "you're free to go!"

I playfully ruffled her hair as I walked by her. "As if I need your permission!"

"Well, of course you do! I _am_ the club leader, after all!"

We laughed together, and I was glad that she seemed to be in a better mood. Shion whispered something that I'm pretty sure was "flirting!" and I shot her a glare when Mion wasn't looking.

"Well, Mion, I'll see you tomorrow!" I called as I began my search to find the front door.

"Mmkay!"

As I finally found my way out of the overly big Sonozaki house (about fifteen minutes later, I might add), I was just closing the door when something pushed it back open. I glanced behind me to see Shion standing there; she was clearly worried again. "Kei-chan, I need to talk to you about something while onee-chan's not around."

"Is it about what you were saying earlier?" I asked quietly.

Shion looked around as if to confirm that no one else was near her, then she whispered in my ear, "Try to stay home today, and stay near a phone, in case I need to call you."

"Why would you need to call me? If you need to tell me something, you can't wait until tomorrow? Or tell me now?"

She shook her head. "I'm afraid something bad may happen later, and when I can see that it's about to happen, I'll call you. You'll need to come over as soon as you can. Oh, and if onee-chan happens to call you today for any reason, act like I didn't say anything."

"Got it. But..." I swallowed the lump in my throat. "What exactly are you scared of that might happen?"

"Shion!" That was Mion calling.

Shion sighed, "You remember earlier when I said Mion might be doing something bad? Well, if she tries to do it again tonight, you'll need to be here to try to stop her. Preferably without letting Grandma know, or your parents. Well, I've gotta go." With that, she closed the door, and I was left alone and confused.

_What does that mean? Mion's gonna do something bad? That could mean just about anything!_

As I started on my way home, it was getting dark, and the higurashi had stopped crying. The sky was clear most of the time, but it began to rain just as I was getting home. My parents still hadn't returned from their business trip to Tokyo, so there was no dinner made. I just decided to go to bed early without eating.

_I sure hope Mion'll be okay, _was the last thought I had before drifting into a deep, nightmare-filled sleep.

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…**I swear, I can't write a fluffy romance scene AT ALL. XD That's why this fic will be so OOC. Tomboy "Mion-ojosan" just goes all soft and Shion-like all of a sudden. *is hit with the FailBrick* Anyways, please review~ Reviews are one of my very few sources of motivation! Flames will be used to cook marshmallows. :3**


	3. Chapter Two

FINALLY, another chapter! You all thought this was just going to be one of those fics that gets a couple of chapters uploaded, and then it would never be updated again… Well, that kinda happened. But it won't happen again~

Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed! *hugs* You guys are awesome~XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**"Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kage, Baragoroshi-hen"**

**By Blaze-Fire-Kitty (Ferny)**

**Chapter Two**

**-Shion's POV-**

One ring.

My trembling hands desperately held the phone up, even though they were nearly numb and I felt like I'd be unable to speak even if anyone answered.

Another ring.

My palms must've been sweating; the phone was starting to slip from my hands.

Another ring, cut off halfway, followed by a drowsy "Hello…?"

"Kei-chan!" I whispered, even though every part of me wanted to scream. "Get over here, quick! Mion's gone!"

I heard only silence for a moment, and I bit my lip nervously. Was he even listening?

It felt like hours passed while my heart pounded against my ribcage. Then, I heard, "Wait… Mion's missing!?" Kei-chan's tone was anxious. "What happened?"

"That's what I'd like to know!" I felt tears streaking down my face, warm and salty. "She was sleeping next to me, but I woke up and she was gone!"

Silence for a few more moments. I took the opportunity to quickly pray for my sister's safety. _Please be okay, onee… Please…_

"I'm coming," said Kei-chan suddenly, now sounding as though he were lost, deep in thought. Then I heard the click of the phone as he hung up.

My hands were numb as I let the phone fall from my hands, feeling blame and fear wash over me like a tidal wave. The night's events reeled in my mind again: I'd asked onee to sleep with me, acting as though I were scared because of a horror movie I'd watched earlier. (I didn't tell her that my real reason for asking was so I'd probably feel her get up if she tried to leave.) She agreed, and for a couple of hours, I slept peacefully with my arms around her neck. Although I must've turned over at some point; I remember rolling over to feel an empty spot where Mion had been earlier. I instantly got up and searched the house, being careful not to wake Grandma, but she was nowhere to be found. There was a bad feeling inside me, telling me that whatever Mion was doing, it certainly wasn't good.

_Please let her be okay! _

I placed the phone back onto the receiver, then I sat in silence. The room was spinning around me as I cried, feeling like a helpless kitten who'd just lost its mother to a big dog.

I glanced at the clock. 3:21. Onee couldn't possibly be doing anything that _wasn't_ bad and/or dangerous. The possibility that she might be dead flashed through my mind, and it only terrified me more. I couldn't imagine onee being dead… I couldn't even understand how I'd killed her even once in the past worlds.

It felt like years passed, but the next time I glanced at the clock, it read 3:49. I quickly changed from my pajamas into my white shirt and black skirt outfit, then I went to stand by the front door. I paced the floors, waiting for Kei-chan. I heard what sounded like gravel crunching under tires just a few minutes later, so I grabbed my tazer from a table near the door and headed out quietly.

Kei-chan was there, standing next to his bike. The expression upon his face was a grim one.

"Do you have any idea where she is?" he asked without even greeting me. I shook my head; I realized right then that he too was very concerned about onee.

"No," I muttered, "You'd think I would've woken up when she did, but… I guess she left when she knew I wouldn't wake up, which means that whatever she's doing, she doesn't want me to know about it."

Kei-chan nodded, a blank look in his eyes, apparently lost in some mind world. I stood silently, feeling just a bit awkward, waiting for Kei-chan to come back to the real world."Well, we'd better go look for her," Kei-chan suggested suddenly.

"Right."

Kei-chan leaned his bike against the side of the house. When he turned back to me and saw the tazer in my hands, his eyes widened in fear. I'm sure he was remembering one of the past worlds in which I shocked him in the neck, nearly killing him… Although I was still the one who actually killed him later, anyways.

"Kei-chan, where do you think we should look?" I asked, trying to draw his attention away from the weapon.

He sighed, "I guess the woods. I would've seen her if she were in the main part of town, so there's really nowhere else to go." He looked towards the thick collection of trees, glanced at my tazer and then into my eyes, then back to the trees.

Feeling panic rising slightly in my chest, I tried to think of something else to say, when an idea suddenly snapped in my mind. "Hey, what about the old construction site where Rena hangs out? Maybe onee went over there."

Kei-chan shook his head. "Nope. Rena's staying there tonight, so she would tell me if she were there." I didn't honestly believe that, so he added, "She'd find a way to let me know, somehow."

"Yeah, I know she'd tell us, but why would Rena be at that dump all night long?"

Kei-chan seemed to grow sadder as he answered quietly, "Problems with her dad's girlfriend. Rena doesn't get along with that woman at all."

"Oh."

I glanced up at the sky. There was no moon, no stars, no clouds. It was dark and empty, much like my heart at that moment. I sighed. "Let's go look in the woods, then," I said darkly.

Kei-chan put his hand on my shoulder. "Everything's going to be okay, Shion. We just have to have hope that she'll be just fine." It only hurt me more to see how Kei-chan was trying so hard to act as though he were honestly calm and fearless, when it would've been obvious to anyone how broken and terrified he actually was.

I nodded anyways, smiling at Kei-chan's kindness. Right then, I could easily understand why onee liked him.

With only ourselves, a tazer, and a relentless will to find onee, we headed into the thick forest. I was listening carefully in case someone tried to attack us, so I noticed something odd right off - not even the higurashi were crying.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Onee!"

"Mion! Where are you?"

"Mion-onee!"

We were practically lost in the woods, calling desperately for Mion. I was tired and my legs were aching, but I kept on walking, holding onto Kei-chan's arm in fear.

I have to admit; that forest is quite creepy at night. Bats would suddenly fly in swarms out of the trees, some of them swooping down towards Kei-chan and I. There had to be fifty different spider webs, with most of them having huge spiders latched onto them.

"Kei-chan," I whispered, afraid to speak loudly and risk scaring more bats out of the trees, "what time is it?"

He glanced at his watch. "4:59." He sighed.

"The sun will come up soon," I reminded him.

"Then your grandma will wake up and freak out when she sees you and Mion aren't there, right?"

"Yeah. She'll probably have a group of villagers looking for us in a few minutes." I looked down at my feet, feeling a sudden twinge of guilt. "I know I'll worry Grandma, but I'm just so worried about Mion, is all…"

Kei-chan smiled at me gently and he petted my head - just how Satoshi-kun does. "I'm worried about her too, Shion. I really am. But…" He looked away from me, as though hoping that his next sentence wouldn't have such a hard impact on me if he didn't look me in the eyes when he said it. "I just don't honestly think we'll find her."

It felt as though my heart dropped into my stomach. "Kei-chan…"

"But we'll keep looking," he promised. "I won't give up; not until I know Mion's okay."

I nodded, surprised at how determined Kei-chan sounded. I let a few moments of silence pass, and I quietly asked, "…You really like onee, don't you?"

His face lit up in a blush, but he didn't deny like I thought he would. "I… I guess I do…" he trailed off, but then added in a rush, "But don't tell Mion! Please!"

I smiled, trying to stifle a laugh. "Calm down, Kei-chan. I won't tell her… yet."

He sighed, and was about to make a remark when a weak and pain-filled moan echoed around us. I froze, and my heart began to beat faster with a slight feeling of hope. "Kei-chan, did you hear that?"

"Yeah… Maybe it was Mion!"

"Maybe so!" I cried. "Where did it come from?"

"Mion!" Kei-chan called again. "Can you hear me?" His response was another moan.

I cheered happily, "that's gotta be Mion!"

Kei-chan nodded, and then he rushed off between two oak trees, grabbing my hand and pulling me along. We ran only a short distance, before Kei-chan suddenly stopped, causing me to run into him. "Mion!" he gasped.

I closed my eyes. I was prepared for the worst, but I couldn't bring myself to look. A few moments of silence passed, before I heard an all-too-familiar voice: "Shion…?"

My older-sister-ness kicked into high gear, and I opened my eyes to see Mion lying in the bottom of a ditch in front of me. Kei-chan kneeled beside her, looking over her as he held her left hand. I leaped down into the ditch, meeting Mion's weak emerald gaze with my own, and I crouched down at her right side. Once I was close to her, I noticed multiple small cuts on her arms and face - I wondered briefly if she had more wounds hidden underneath her clothes.

"Onee-chan…" she whispered, weakly lifting a hand to my cheek, wiping away my tears. "Please don't cry anymore, onee-chan. I'm okay…"

Relief rushed through my whole body as I held her other hand. "You don't have to call me onee-chan," I muttered. "You're the big sister now…"

"But you were still born before me. Nothing will ever change that," she murmured weakly, letting her hand fall. Her eyes closed, and I thought grimly for a moment that she might be dead, until I saw her chest rising and falling slowly.

Kei-chan glanced up at me. "We need to get her out of here, quick."

I nodded, but the question of 'what happened?' was beginning to swirl through my mind. I couldn't ask her though; onee was apparently unconscious. "Your parents are still gone, right? Why don't we take her to your house? If Grandma sees her like this, I'll never hear the end of it."

He hesitated for a moment, blushing, and I groaned inwardly. When he was done thinking about whatever obviously perverted thing he was thinking about, he agreed. Stroking Mion's cheek gently with his thumb, he whispered, "Come on, Mion. It's time to go."

She slowly blinked her eyes open and gazed at Kei-chan for a moment. He asked, "Do you think you can get up?"

She nodded, and sat up just slightly, and I could see a long gash in her right arm. Kei-chan helped her stand up, then we both stood on each side of her, pulling her arms around our shoulders and helping her limp back to Kei-chan's house. He didn't bother going to my house to get his bike; we just made the long journey to his house.

It was a terribly long journey, since Kei-chan's house was a little far away and we had to walk so slowly. It took about an hour, and when we arrived at Kei-chan's house, dawn was just breaking.

Mion obviously couldn't go to school and she couldn't stay there by herself; we both decided to stay with her. I decided that first things first, she needed a shower - she was covered in so much drying blood that it was almost impossible to tell where her actual wounds were. Throughout the whole shower, wounds kept opening and bleeding. I thought for sure that she would die of blood loss if it didn't stop soon.

After we managed to survive the shower (which, in the end, didn't do much good because her wounds never did stop bleeding, even just slightly), I realized that it was almost time for Rena to leave home. I called to her house to tell her not to wait for us, but her dad answered and said that she never came home last night. In fact, Rena apparently told her dad that she was staying at Rika's house. I asked Rena's dad to tell Rena that Kei-chan and I had to stay home with Mion, but not to worry too much. He promised to tell her as soon as she came home, and I hung up.

So for about an hour, Kei-chan and I sat on the couch in the living room, with onee between us. We were waiting for her to calm down - she kept crying and screaming. When her cries eventually died down to quiet murmuring, I asked her, "What happened?"

She didn't answer my question, but rather muttered, "Shion? Could you leave me alone with Kei-chan for a few minutes?"

I started to tell her to explain what happened earlier, but I decided against it, knowing that if I yelled at her, she would probably burst into tears anyways. I wasn't really surprised by her request anyways; just a little hurt. She used to always run to me first, talk to me first - I used to be the most important person in her life. But all that changed when she met Kei-chan. Sometimes, I felt like I was losing my sister, but nonetheless, I was happy for her, and happy that she was happy.

I nodded and stood up, telling her and Kei-chan that I would be in Kei-chan's room. However, since they were sitting on a couch facing away from the doorway that led to the hall, then the stairs to Kei-chan's bedroom, I decided to watch them from around the corner.

It's not that I didn't trust my sister or Kei-chan, it's just… I'll never forget how, in a past world, Kei-chan killed onee and Rena by beating them with a baseball bat. There was always a small part of me that expected Kei-chan to just snap and kill onee again. In that case, I wouldn't hesitate to kill him.

After a few moments, Mion leaned over and muttered something to Kei-chan that I couldn't hear. Then, Kei-chan moved closer to her and put an arm around her shoulder. She lay her head on his shoulder, and he leaned his head against hers.

"Mion?" He whispered.

"Hm?"

"You remember what happened yesterday… when we were walking home from school?"

_What exactly happened?_ I'd went ahead of them when they were walking, since I seemed to just be making things more awkward between them, so I had no idea what had gone on then… _Don't tell me they were… kissing, or… something!_"Yeah." Onee's voice sounded small and weak, slightly embarrassed.

"You didn't seem to mind what… we did, so… maybe it would make you feel better if…?" While Kei-chan spoke, he looked away from onee, with a crimson blush on his face.

Onee smiled as she suddenly moved her arms around Kei-chan's neck, pulling herself closer to him, her face hidden by his neck. But all of a sudden, Kei-chan's eyes widened and a wide smile grew across his face. Onee pulled away slightly, her face the color of a tomato and slight fear showing in her eyes. But when Kei-chan lifted his chin and smiled reassuringly, onee moved back and pressed her lips to his throat.

Well, I can certainly say that I didn't expect that.

_Wha…!? There's no… how did… What the heck did I miss yesterday?_

She kissed his neck a few times, before Kei-chan pulled away. She looked as though she were about to question him, but he said, "You deserve to know how insanely good that feels."

He tilted her chin up as his lips brushed against her throat - she flinched slightly, but Kei-chan didn't move away. Mion, with her arms still around his neck, pulled herself even closer to him.

…_Woah… when did they become so… close? I mean… dang it, what did I miss yesterday!?_

I felt a million different emotions running through me, some of them good and some of them bad. I felt happy for my sister, but I was worried that Kei-chan would start using her to his advantage. I was slightly, very slightly, jealous, and then I wished that Satoshi-kun would kiss me like that.

Kei-chan pulled away, and gazed into onee's eyes for a moment. She whispered something too quiet for me to hear, and she was about to move in again before Kei-chan suddenly stood up and started walking towards me. I quickly towards Kei-chan's room, making it up the stairs just as he came around the corner. I ran into his room and sat on his futon, grabbed a random manga off the floor and flipped to a page near the middle, pretending to read it with interest as Kei-chan walked in. Tears were streaking down his cheeks.

"Kei-chan!" I cried, honestly surprised, "what's wrong?"

He was silent as he walked over and sat down next to me, but then he murmured, "I betrayed her."

"How did you betray onee? Honestly, Kei-chan, she's wanted that for a-"

"Not Mion," he whispered. "Rena."

"…Oh."

We sat in silence for a few moments as I remembered that Rena also liked Kei-chan; it also appeared that, in the majority of the worlds we traveled through, he always liked her more than onee. In fact, it was only in the last few worlds that Kei-chan's love for onee was even apparent at all.

"Kei-chan," I muttered absentmindedly, "Who do you love more? Onee or Rena?"

His eyes widened, and for a moment, I thought he would get angry with me for asking. But rather, be broke down crying, leaning his head on my shoulder. "I don't know! They're both such good friends and I've known them for the same amount of time! They've both gone through situations that I've been through, and they're both amazingly beautiful… Mion's funny and she's almost like a guy - I feel like I can go to her for just about anything, because she can be that guy or a cute tsundere girl. But Rena is sweet and she would care about me no matter what. She would never give up on me, and I know she loves me, but she's selfless enough to not advance because she thinks I'd rather be with Mion…"

I felt pity for Kei-chan rising inside of me, but also anger. _He says he loves Rena because she's sweet and caring. Well, everyone is! All the club members are sweet and caring! Well… onee would be all that and more!_

"If you know for sure that Rena loves you, why not choose her?" I asked out of curiosity. Of course I wanted him to be with onee, though. In fact, lately, I'd been growing to dislike Rena.

He hesitated at first. "Because Mion loves me too. Don't worry, Shion, you didn't tell me - I figured it out on my own. They both love me, and I love both of them. And I won't go out with both of them, because someone will end up getting hurt."

I awkwardly put an arm around him, muttering, "well, I can't say much, Kei-chan. You should just follow your heart." I wanted to give him better advice than that, but I honestly didn't know anything else. I'd never been in a situation like that before.

He nodded slowly, as though my words weren't really reaching him. "I wish it were just that easy."

"Life's not easy," I reminded him. "Not easy at all. And I can tell you from experience, Kei-chan, that heartbreak is the most painful thing in the world."

"I might argue with that," he muttered. With a lighter tone, he added, "I think getting a huge rock slammed into my skull, then being tazered, and later being stabbed in the stomach is the most painful thing in the world."

"Kei-chan!" I pushed him off of me, hitting him across the back of the head. He laughed. "It's not funny!" Even though it kinda was, thinking back on a very tragic event that you could almost pretend it never happened. I thought back to one of the most painful worlds we went through, where I fell victim to insanity and killed so many people - Rika, Satoko, Grandma, Keiichi, Mion, and even village leader Kimiyoshi. Many of them were tortured for days on end first.

Just then, a loud ring startled me, and I flinched. It was the phone sitting right next to Kei-chan's futon. I started to reach for it, but Kei-chan stopped me. "It might be my parents," he explained.

I listened to his conversation patiently. "Rika-chan, is that you?" … "Well, why aren't you at school?" … "The hospital!? Why?" … "What? Is she okay?" … "Well, Mion and Shion are over here. Mion couldn't make it to school today, so she's over here and we've been watching her." … "Do you want Mion to come too?" … "Okay, we'll be right there." … "Bye."

He hung up and looked at me with teary eyes. "Rena's in the hospital."

"What!?" I gasped. "Oh, what happened to her?"

"Well, I was talking to Rika-chan. She says they don't know exactly what happened, but she has deep cuts all over her body, and she nearly died of blood loss last night."

"And we're going over there?"He nodded. "Preferably quickly. Rika-chan says Rena could fall unconscious at any moment.""Wait… Do you think onee will be able to make it down there?"

"I dunno…" Kei-chan trailed off. "Heck, as bad of shape as she's in, they might try to keep her there. But I think she should go. I mean, Rena's, like, her best friend."

"Kei-chan…" I trailed off, leaving Kei-chan to finish my sentence.

He sighed, "Her best _girl_ friend."

"You go ask her if she wants to go - I have to call Grandma and tell her what's going on."

"Right." With that, Kei-chan left the room, leaving me to call Grandma. I dialed the number with trembling fingers. She answered the phone almost immediately, and she actually sounded worried for once as she said, "Hello?"

"Grandma, listen, onee and I are-"

The concern was gone in a flash and replaced with anger. "Why are you not here? I can't believe you left without telling me! Where are you and what are you doing there?"

I sighed. "Onee and I are at Maebara Keiichi's house-"

"You're at a boy's house!? Why? Are his parents there?"

"Not exact-"

"SONOZAKI SHION!!!" she exploded. "If you've been doing what I assume you've been doing over there, you are in so much trouble! You wouldn't have any other reason for going to a boy's house when his parents aren't there!""Grandma!" I screamed, "Calm down! Let me explain!"She was quiet for a few moments, then she muttered, "Go on."

"Last night," I began, "I woke up and onee was gone. She's been doing that a lot lately, you know, so I was worried about her. I called Kei-chan and asked him to help me look for her. I figured he'd want to know since he and onee are best friends, and he's a good friend of mine who I know would protect me. So we went in the woods looking for her, and found her in a ditch! She was all cut and bleeding, and we didn't want to freak you out, so we brought her to Kei-chan's house. And a few minutes ago, we got a phone call from our friend Furude Rika at the hospital. She said that another friend of ours, Ryuugu Rena, is in the hospital with the same kind of injuries as onee! So we're about to go see Rena, if that's all right with you…"

Silence. Then, "All right. But be careful." Then the click of the phone as she hung up.

"Shion!" Kei-chan called up the stairs. "Ready to go?""Yeah, coming!"

When I arrived downstairs, onee was standing up but apparently keeping her weight off her left ankle, leaning on Kei-chan for support, who had his arm around her shoulders. I went to her other side, and she put her other arm around my shoulder.

"Are you sure you can make it, onee?" I asked. She nodded.

"I'll be fine," she reassured me, smiling her trademark mischievous smile. It was too easy to see how much pain she was actually in."Then let's go.''

As we left the house and started down the street, a dark look fell over onee's eyes as Kei-chan explained the situation to her. He kept going on and on about his concern for Rena, until onee looked as though she were about to burst into tears. For a few short moments then, I hated Maebara Keiichi.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Yes, I know that it's probably apparent how hard that was to write. It seriously was. I've had some serious writer's block lately, and this is a really slow chapter that drags on and on forever. (Well, for me, anyways. I spent two weeks writing this.) Yes, more Keiichi and Mion romance, but how long will it last…? *insert evil laugh here***

**My internet was down for about a week, and I didn't check reviews before I uploaded this, so thanks in advance for any possible reviews I got in that internet-less week!**

**Reviews are much loved and appreciated, and flames will be used to cook marshmallows and popcorn. YAY PoPcOrN! :D :D :D**


	4. Important update! Please read!

Hey guys!

Okay, apparently, I haven't updated this story since January of 2010, and now it's approaching January of 2012. Crazy, huh? Time flies.

I decided today to log into this old account and see if anyone still looked at my fanfics, and that's when I saw this one, Baragoroshi-hen... You know, I'd totally forgotten about it, and when I found it again, I re-read all I'd written of it so far. Nostalgia kicked in and I really started missing it. After noticing that there's thirteen people following the story and it's had one recent review, I've thought about it and made a decision:

I'm going to re-write Baragoroshi-hen and post it on my new fanfiction account. By new account, I mean that I just made it a few days ago for the sake of uploading my Warrior Cats fanfic, but I'd love to give Baragoroshi-hen another shot, now that I've been writing more seriously, and see if I can make it better. I do love what I've written here, though, so I'm going to leave the part I've written here, and I'm going to start re-writing in a brand new story on the new account.

My username for the new one is tuesdaylovexx. I'm hoping to get at least the prologue of this story re-written and posted there this weekend, so...

To the thirteen followers of this story who will probably see this, and to anyone else who sees it, and to all those who reviewed and asked me to continue and encouraged me - thank you, and I'm finally going to continue it. I'll re-start it, continue it, and eventually finish it.

I'm actually having an all-nighter as we talk so that I can re-watch all of the Higurashi anime, because I honestly was forgetting a lot of stuff about the series. And I'll get to writing as soon as I can!

Don't forget, follow the story as soon as I post it to the other account, because I'll be updating it there! c:

-FernyX3, now known as tuesdaylovexx on new account


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